Freckles – “Killer Sparks”

My little boys all have freckles and so do I. In my younger years I was teased for them by my peers and loved for them by adults. I can remember little boys in school asking me why I had chicken shit on my face. The tables turned as I got older and one charmer later in life told me that a face without freckles is like the sky without stars. Another time I was told that freckles were angel kisses which has been the story I have been telling my children ever since. The reality is other little boys and girls might tease my boys for their freckles and they might end up hating them for now and only learning to love them later. I wish it weren’t so but it has come up more than once.

Freckles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The other evening I had an interesting conversation with one of my six-year olds. He told me that he never wanted to have freckles. I was empathetic and listened hard asking him lots of questions. He showed some frustration at my interpretation of things and was quick to set me straight. He then told me that he did not hate his freckles but he hated the name “freckles”. Well, how easy is that?We proceeded to discuss options and better names for freckles and have now settled on “Killer Sparks”. It was very easy to deal with hating the name and I hope that they are always grounded and love who they are – “Killer Sparks” and all!